Ken Auster

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Ken Auster

Garden Room by Ken Auster

I no longer remember when I first saw Ken Auster's work in art magazines, but it was love at first sight. His work was so exciting—wonderful compositions, fabulous use of color, rich warm and cool tones and so many subtle grays! Thick, juicy paint and loose brush strokes. No matter the subject, his work filled my heart with joy.

I met Ken 11 years ago as a student in one of his workshops in Tuscon. By then I already owned two of his paintings and was eager to meet this man in person. An easel was at the front of the class room. Beside it was large table, the entire top was covered with heavy brown paper.

He came into the classroom the first day carrying a duffel bag. Many colors of paint had splattered over it. When unzipped, the sides fell to the table revealing the continence: dozens of paint tubes, some without their lids, and a small brown paper bag. The paper bag contained a handful of loose 35mm slides, which were duped onto the table. My thought, this is going to be an interesting week!
And it truly was.

Ken's classroom demo palette

He chose a slide for reference, held it towards the light, and started painting.

Watching his demos was like seeing magic happen before my eyes. He would begin with a large brush and loose strokes of thin dark paint. Gradually large areas of color would be added.

To add the people on the sidewalk in this demo, a scribbled mass of dark was added. Then colors to form the people's clothing, heads, and whatever they were carrying. The background colors were then added where needed to finish forming the people and the spaces between them—the sidewalk colors.

Ken Auster's finished demo.

This is the demo I purchased. The actual painting is not quite so pink as the last image.

Ken passed away Friday, January 29, 2016. He was a gifted instructor and mentor, a wonderful painter, and a kind and generous man with a great sense of humor. He will be missed. There will be an article about him in the March, 2016 issue of PleinAir magazine. See also: Celebrating A Long, Fulfilling Career.